cabinet knobs and drawer pulls

When my baby sister mentioned needing help picking out hardware for the kitchen of the house they are renovating, I accepted out of duty to family. That's what one does, isn't it? I never dreamed it would be such fun.

I should have guessed it. My sisters and I have had fun in a bar ditch catching tadpoles. Of course, that was back in the day. But some things do not change.

They have always been my favorite playmates, these two sisters of mine.

We brought Mama along, just in case we needed a third opinion. Or someone to break up a fight. We needed neither. We pretty much agreed on everything and pretty much got everything picked out: from tiles for the backsplash in her kitchen, to oil rubbed fixtures  and bathroom hardware.

Now if I can just convince her not to paint over that handpainted mural of Venice right off her great room.

clean. your. room.

some things I miss

When I was young, I admit I used to roll my eyes and sigh when my elders talked about the good old days.
As I grew older, I became quite interested in the stories.
That I would be the one telling them did not occur to me at either juncture.
Let me say here that lots of thinks were different when I was a child.
There was no social media. We had 3 television channels. All of them were black and white.
No one had ever heard of a computer. Any and all of that reminds me of the Jetsons.
I am technically challenged, to say the least. Though I admit I love the convenience technology provides I still miss some things that are no more.
I miss TG&Y, Woolworths and other "Dime" or  5&10 cent stores. I spent part of every Saturday and most of my allowance there.
I miss water coolers, attic fans and ice milk. They were summer staples.
I miss seeing people dressed up to travel.
I miss manners.
Most of all, I miss the people who are no more. Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents.
I can still hear some of their voices in mind mind, making "bids" at cards or chatting as they shuffled dominoes. I see their faces in my mind. If I close my eyes, I can recall how some of them smelled.
I am thankful for the memories.

doggie dress up

As much as the grandbaby loves to play with her dolls and dress them up, it seems to me that she loves to dress the dogs that live at our house even more.  Maybe it is because the dolls wear miniature things while the canines she plays with can (and do) sport her own costumes, clothing and accessories. Each of them have their own outfits, my baby daughter makes sure of that. I personally have a problem with dogs wearing clothes save and except when it is cold and they need covering for warmth. I've been outvoted on this issue a lot. So much so, that I gave the battle up long ago.
Trying to keep the dogs from wearing headbands and lady bug wings and even bracelets on their tails, is something I have opted not to take own. They don't seem to mind, too much, else I would come to their aid. Funny thing is, they just let me dress them and sometimes even stroll them around in a buggy or shopping cart.
She is asking for a pram for her birthday. I suspect this is so she can stroll more than one dog at a time. I'll keep you updated!

what mushu said

my little baby, all grown up and saving the world...

I love the mushu character from the Disney movie "Mulan." Besides being hysterical he is also very quotable. The above quote came to my mind as I was thinking about my baby daughter starting a big time job today.

It seems like a half hour ago that our pediatrician came into my hospital room and announced "you have yourselves a little sweetheart." That is was almost 25 years ago boggles my mind.

What was true a quarter century ago, though, is still true. We had ourselves a little sweetheart. Indeed we did and indeed we do.

I am including the post she put on her Facebook feed Sunday after leaving home on her short little respite between the end of finals and her beginning the aforementioned job

It reads:



"Headed back to Tulsa to start my new job after a full fun-filled week with my family --


Celebrated Mother's Day, went to work, shopped, and played with mom

Caught up on Revenge, played wii tennis, and celebrated a birthday with Dad

Saw both my siblings

Went back blonde, ran 12 miles, made a cake from scratch, and concocted homemade body products

Caught over 100 bass and crappie, went to the rodeo, and danced with boyfriend

Spent time with two of the coolest people on the planet,

&

Went to niece's little olympics, spotted her backhand spring, and helped her get Parker ready for a "dog fashion show."

My heart is full and I am so thankful for my life.:

such a big girl now

My grandbaby is really not a baby anymore. In just a few days she will finish first grade. She is losing baby teeth.
Almost all the things we used to do for her, she can now do for herself. Even the things we would still do for her. she prefers to do for herself.
This was never so clear to me as the other day when she insisted on blow drying and fixing her own hair. The truth is, if I could, I would have someone fix my hair every day rather than to do it myself. Maybe if I did so good a job on mine as she does these days on hers, I would not mind so much.
What I do mind, without reservation, is that fact that my grandbaby is such a big girl now. A grandgirl, if you will. Though I have no intention (until she absolutely makes me) in calling her anything other than my grandbaby.

at granny carol and pop buzz's

The grandbaby loves going to visit her Granny and Pop Buzz. Granny loves and spoils her. Pop Buzz lets her sit in his chair and watch television. He pretends to care that she is sitting in "his" chair but truth be told, it tickles him that it tickles her so much to sit there.
They are fast friends: the grandbaby and her Granny and her Pop Buzz. That makes me very happy.

The yard at my grandma's house

The land where my Grandparent's house once set has been cleared. The area has been zoned commercial and a new business is in the process of locating there.
The rose arbor is gone. The fish pond is, too.
The mimosa tree under which we had a million tea parties is no more.
The side yard,  where the pony huckachee grazed, is now covered with cement.
The massive trees, around which were bricked and concrete borders, no longer stand to offer shade over a yard planted with iris and day lilies the crimuns Grandma called "apostle lilies.
lilac trees.
Pawpaw's shop and our playhouse, off the patio, the storm cellar and the sleeping porch exist now only in our memories.
The garage Pawpaw said grandma would someday "take over the hill" when she pulled in to it, was torn down with the house. All of the swings are gone:
the bag swing hung from a tall tree near the creek that marked the edge of the property,
the yard swing, the board swing and the porch swing.
Grandma's carefully trimmed evergreen topiaries became must overgrown before the place sold to its present owner.
The evergreen onto which great glass bulbs were twined at Christmas, the fence separating the yard and the garden where sweet peas grew, stood for the longest time, where they always stood, but no more.
The mail box and paper boxes we raced to, the steps where our names and hand prints were placed before the cement hardened were removed.
All signs of the flag pole and the gourd tree, her vegetable and flower gardens have been erased.
Only the hill where we practiced cart wheels bears testament that the site was once something a akin to paradise for three little girls and our own children after us.

Fairy house 2014

Last fall, the grandbaby and one of her friends spent the better part of a Sunday afternoon making a fairy house. I blogged all about it then. Since then, that fairy house has been in residence at the grandbaby's house.
She announced  this weekend that she has another loose tooth that just might come out while she was with us. There was nothing to be done, then, but to set about another fairy house. This one will stay here with us, just in case, while she is here, it is needed.
You see, the tooth fairy may get tired and need a place to kick her feet up or take a nap during her journey along the way.


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ellie and her pet

These girls are the best of friends. They have been since the day the blonde on the left first met the little redhead on the right. They hang out together as often as they possibly can.

Ladybug nails

This little girl wanted ladybugs painted on her nails. Where she got the idea, I do not know.  A couple of friends and I tagged along and had our nails done. Our results were decidedly more under understated and we did not have nearly as much fun as she but it was a pleasant evening, all the same.
She asked for, and got, the deluxe pedicure, complete with a hot towel wrap.
I meant to take a close up of her designs but forgot until after she'd left for home. Maybe I can get one still before the polish is all worn off her busy little hands.


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another new favorite quote

I saw the quote recently beautifully incorporated  put into the art of Susan Branch, who has long been a favorite illustrator of mine. It completely sums up the way I feel about some folks in my life. I am blessed to have more than one and as I think about over the years, I always have had.

Pray Day

I spent the national Day of Prayer in my bed recuperating from a bad reaction to some anesthetic. I did not attend a prayer service or vigil as I have in years past. No luncheon or dinner. Rather, I stayed alone and prayed alone. For our nation, for the Church, local and universal. I prayed for our leaders, our children, our world. I prayed regarding our community. The legacy my generation will leave was part of that. I prayed that I would focus more on prayer, personally. It was a day long focus of what I intend will be a life long endeavor.
I thought throughout the day set aside for prayer of the verse my paternal grandmother so loved:

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. [2 Chronicles 7:14]

She was a pray-er, as was her mother. The daughter and a granddaughter of a Baptist preacher, they were raised on prayer. Just as I was. And for that I am thankful. I am also thankful to live in a nation where I am free to pray and in fact, am invited to.